


Remembrance

by Evelyn6



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Based on set photos, F/M, Family, Pre-episode: s06e10, Rumbelle - Freeform, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-27 01:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8381737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evelyn6/pseuds/Evelyn6
Summary: Rumple and Belle visit a lost loved one and reflect on the family that's gone - and the one yet to come.
Based on set photos for episode 6.10.





	

**Author's Note:**

> We saw some photos from set of the cast visiting the cemetery for episode 10. While I don't think we'll get this scene, I can't help but hope for it. I also owe some of the inspiration to a dear friend of mine who has some truly beautiful headcanons. Thank you F.
> 
> Please note that this fic takes place after what I'm hoping will be some kind of Rumbelle reconciliation that happens during episode 9. They're not "fixed," by any means, but trying.

Gold felt his shoulders tense the moment they stepped foot out of the car and onto the cemetery grounds. It was like an anvil had landed on his back, the weight almost unbearable where it pressed between his shoulder blades. He wasn't sure if it was the way that desolation and death clung to the surroundings like a fog, or whether it was simply the guilt that clenched its way around his heart every time he thought of those that rested here. One person in particular: his beloved Baelfire.

Belle's warmth beside him helped drive the worst of it away, though he still had to grit his teeth against the tears that sprung to his eyes at the sight of the gravestones before them. This cold, dreary place wasn't where his son belonged; and yet, because of his father's failings, he was here. Buried beneath the cold dirt, his brown eyes and his curved smile slowly turning to dust beneath the weight of the earth.

Regina and Emma pulled up beside them and the grumble of the engine and the bright headlights of the yellow Bug as they passed over the Cadillac were enough to pull him from his thoughts for the moment. They were here for a reason, of course, and he tried to keep that in mind as he urged the guilt and the longing that flooded through him to settle into something less debilitating beneath his skin.

"Thanks for coming," Regina said quietly as she got out of the car, looking just as uncomfortable as he. She had someone she loved buried here too, and Gold suspected from the way she met his eyes briefly, something knowing glinting there, that she knew what it cost to be there.

He gave a small nod, unable to manage anything more. He felt a hand against his back, the light weight rubbing between his shoulder blades before the rest of her followed, tucking behind him as she pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Of course she knew, his Belle.

He looked to his side to find her watching him, her blue eyes shining with patience and understanding; and a pain of her own. She had loved his son too, and it was incredible how having her there now - beside him, even after everything they had gone through these past few months - worked like a balm through his fractured heart.

Things weren't as they were before. Not yet. They still had so much to fix between them. But they were trying. They were learning to put their love before everything else, to let that guide them as they navigated the hurt and the broken trust and all they still had left to show each other. But she was at his side, her touch grounding him like nothing ever had save Bae, and it was enough to ebb the darkness away.

"We'll be along soon. We have a stop to make first," she announced, her gaze flickering to Regina and Emma.

Emma opened her mouth as if to protest, but shut it again straightaway when both Belle and Regina gave her a sharp look.

"Sure," she said instead. "You know where to find us."

The two women left in the direction of Regina's vault where they intended to brew a potion to help with the tremors in Emma's hands. He had offered his help as a sort of peace offering, but he was glad to have a moment to collect himself before he went to work.

"Come on," Belle said beside him, the hand on his back slipping around his arm as she guided them into the cemetery in the opposite direction.

The weight settled back on his shoulders, but it was more manageable now with her there. Instead of thinking about the chill, he focused on her warmth, on the flowery smell of her shampoo and how complete he felt with her pressed into his side.

Gods, how he had missed her.

He had come so very close to losing her. He should have, really. Many times. As she'd said so long ago, he was still a man who made wrong choices. Why she continued to give him chance after chance, he had no idea, but he was so very, very grateful. He didn't know who he was without her. She was his strength; more powerful than any magic could be. He knew they had a difficult road ahead of them, but as long as she stood beside him, he could feel hopeful that they would come out the other end closer than ever; them and their son.

Just as he thought about his family, he spotted a name amidst the darkness, etched into gray stone: Neal Cassidy. Its appearance startled him, though he supposed it shouldn't have. He should have expected Belle to lead him here; should have recognized the familiar path through the stones. He supposed it still didn't feel real, even after all this time.

He looked upon his son's grave, his mind instantly conjuring images of their life - of the tiny little bundle he'd held in his arms that first day back from the war to the small boy with the mop of brown curls and eyes just like his father's as he begged to be allowed out to play to the stunning young man who had forgiven his father's shortcomings and held his hand as he gave himself bravely for those he loved. The tears were filling his eyes again, not just for what he'd lost, but for the bit of hope that welled in his heart despite it all.

"Belle..." he whimpered softly, his voice cracking as he looked for her in the darkness.

She stepped into his arms at once, wrapping her own around his waist as she tucked her head beneath his chin, and he held her to him tightly, burying his nose in her curls even as his eyes traced his son's name.

"It's okay, Rumple. I know," she whispered against his chest, squeezing him a little tighter.

He was able to take a breath now with her in his arms, could manage to stand before his son without breaking down as long as she was there to hold him up. However could he have thought, even for a single moment, that he could ever live without her?

It was quiet for a long moment, just the whisper of the wind and the brush of fallen leaves as they stood together, the both of them reminiscing on times past and how very much had changed. He couldn't help but think back to the last time they had both been here together, the day they had been married and Belle had waited in the car as he took a moment to talk to his boy.

That day, he'd told Bae that what he'd needed most had never been power. All he'd ever needed was him. His love. That day, he'd pledged to be the man his son had always wanted to see; a better man. His son had loved him that day, the day he gave everything so that his father could protect his family. There had been no anger or derision in his beloved son's eyes; only pride and understanding and love.

There was only one other who ever looked at him like that, his second chance at redemption: the woman in his arms. His Belle, who was every day growing as she nurtured their child in her belly. He had made mistakes, that he knew. More than he could count, and enough that he should have well and truly mucked everything up by now. But she was still here. Somehow, she was still here. He didn't know if this time would be any different. But he would keep trying, for them.

"Belle," he said softly, releasing his hold on her slightly so he could look into those blue eyes of hers, effervescent as ever in the light of the full moon. There was hope in those eyes unlike any he'd ever known; a kindness that never failed to steal his breath, even now. "Belle, thank you."

She scrunched her nose in that way she did when she was confused, and it made him smile. "For what?" she asked.

"For giving me the chance to be a father again," he told her as he brushed his fingers over her stomach. "For giving me a second chance at redemption."

Belle sighed and gave a small shake of her head, but the corners of her mouth were curved in a small smile that helped ease the flutter of panic that had begun in his chest at the sound. She reached down to where his hand hovered hesitantly between them and pressed his palm fully to her stomach, his fingers spanning the gentle curve there as she held her own over them.

"Rumple, you earned your redemption a long time ago. You earned it the day you gave up everything - your power, your family, your _life_  - to save everyone. Baelfire saw it and I saw it, and I know he was as proud of you then as I still am," she said, bringing her free hand up to cradle his cheek. "He loved you, Rumple. More than you know."

Her eyes flickered for a moment, a memory of her own flashing in their blue depths as she lowered her hand to rest on his chest, just above where his heart was beating - for her, always for her now, as it used to for his son.

"I know that things have been difficult for us lately... but Rumple, you've never stopped being my happy ending. _This_ ," she said, squeezing his fingers where they rested between her stomach and her hand, "has never stopped being my happy ending."

"Oh Belle," he breathed, tears spilling over his cheeks as he pressed his forehead against hers, scarcely able to breathe for the love and gratitude that poured from his heart. She didn't seem to need his words then, for which he was grateful as he could do no more in that moment than gather her in his arms again and thank the Gods for giving True Love to a monster.

And as he looked over her head to where his son rested, still here in every breath that his father took without him, and in the hearts of the people who loved him, he felt that hope spark to life again, and he smiled as his eyes read over the curves of his boy's name.

"I'm going to keep that promise, Bae," he whispered into the dark. He kissed the top of Belle's curls and thought of the life growing between them, and in that moment, he believed he might succeed.


End file.
